King of the Road - November 2009
 |
Talk of the Town
Connect with small-town America in Corona
Story and Photography by Lesley S. King
One day when I was 14, while irrigating an alfalfa field at my family’s ranch, I paused, looked up at the sky, and just knew that, rather than a country life, I wanted the stimulation of a city. Today, as I walk a quiet sidewalk in Corona, a town of some 165 residents along U.S. 54, 122 miles southeast of Albuquerque, I wonder: What was I thinking? Here my pulse is slow, my muscles relaxed, my lips smiling of their own accord.
I stop in at the Corona Museum, where I meet with volunteers Patsy and Lee Mulkey, both lifelong residents of the town, who take me through exhibits displaying the region’s history. We see tools dating from the late 1800s, when mining for copper and lead brought the first settlers, and a wooden sign that once marked the railroad depot. The El Paso & Northeastern Railroad pulled in around 1899; because the station was at the highest point of the route, the town earned the name Corona, which in Spanish means crown.
Corona flourished in the early part of the 20th century, with bean farming and livestock ranching as the mainstays on these butter-colored plains, some of which are now part of the Cíbola National Forest. But the flashiest news was when, in the summer of 1947, rancher William “Mac” Brazel found some debris that appeared to be from outer space. “It landed here first!” says Patsy, with a chuckle. However, she explains, since Roswell was a larger town, it claimed the fame for the alleged UFO crash. The attitude here? “Let Roswell have all the glory—and all the people,” she says.
DAY-TRIP TIPS Where to Dine: El Corral Diner Where to Stay: Ollie D. Tourist House Where to Shop:
|
I stroll down the sidewalk again, relishing that the town’s size allows me to walk anywhere I need to go; the occasional freight train roaring by is the only evidence that the world is still racing out there somewhere. I step into the Corona Grill, where I meet owner John Hollier, a self-proclaimed “Natural Born Griller.” In 2005, he and his wife did what I’m pretending to do today: They stepped away from a fast-paced city life and landed here.
The place is a cozy country kitchen, with tasty eggs, bacon, and buttermilk biscuits, which I sample while John, wearing a serene smile, talks about life here.
“A good part of the day, I visit with people,” he says. “If the girls need help in the kitchen, I go in there.” He explains that from his house on a clear day he can see 11,973-foot Sierra Blanca, to the south, but his biggest joy is the café. “People come in hungry—grumpy sometimes—you feed ’em and they leave happy. There’s gratification in that.”
When John heads to the kitchen, I pull up a chair at the next table, where the local coffee club hangs out: a group of men who meet here each morning. “We don’t solve all the world’s problems … ,” one begins, “… but we find out what they are … ,” chimes in a second, “… and add to them every chance we get,” finishes a third.
The conversation continues in this way, and I quickly realize just how well these guys know each other. “In big cities, you don’t know your neighbors,” one says. “Here, there are times when you have to depend on your neighbors,” adds another. “Besides,” says yet another, “if you don’t know your neighbors, you don’t have anyone to talk to … or talk about.”
Though Corona is a small town, it has a strongly pumping heart. Its lifeblood is the many volunteers who keep things running, and a new mayor who has achieved some tangible goals. With support from the community, William Hignight has recently made the entire town a WiFi hotspot, and added a library and a fishing pond—which is where I head next.
To the northwest of town I find the glistening water—called Silverpond, for all the silver-haired people who helped build it. It’s set in a park with newly planted trees and a playground. Fishing on the shore are Susan Battle, her husband, Ed, and their son, Sam. Though the pond is stocked with catfish in winter and trout in summer, the Battles haven’t had a bite. Susan doesn’t seem to mind. She casts into the center of Silverpond and settles in to tell me why she loves it here.
Battle and her husband lived a city life in North Carolina. One day, in New Mexico Magazine, they saw an advertisement for Cougar Mountain Ranch, one of four developments here. They took early retirement and moved. “We have such a great time!” she says. She explains that her neighbors are from all over—Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania—and they all appreciate Corona’s peacefulness and supportive community as much as she does. “The small-town America you always knew was out there—it’s Corona.” That night, as I settle in at the two-story Ollie D Tourist House, an old stone railroad hotel that’s been restored and now serves as a rustic inn, I consider her words. I do know my neighbors back in Santa Fe, and every day I get to hear singing birds and see glistening mountains. Maybe I don’t need to escape to a small town to find peace—maybe I just need to recognize it within.
The Corona Museum, on Main Street, is open Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in summer, and by appointment in winter: call (575) 849-3766 or 849-2235. For info: www.villageofcorona.com
 |
"King of the Road" columnist Lesley S. King visits another little-known community in New Mexico each month.
You might also like:
